Re: The Eyes of Another
by oathkeeper-girl
Summary: They all should have known something was wrong. Even before the car accident, something had been terribly wrong with Kairi. I should have known, they should have known, why did we all ignore it? Read the story of Kairi Keeler through the eyes of another.
1. Chapter 1

"Oooh, I love this song!" Kairi Keeler turned up the radio and sang along happily as the wind tumbled her red hair around. The little convertible had to have been going at least ninety miles per hour, definitely pushing its limits, on the wide open road. She turned to face her friend Naminé, a pretty close copy to her own image, her best friend. Naminé sang along just as loud all the while laughing and dancing in the passenger's seat. When the song ended, Naminé turned hastily to look at her friend.

"How much longer before we're home?" She asked. The radio station's speaker drowned out her voice, announcing the name of the station and the song just played. I'm pretty sure Naminé was annoyed by that. She was easily annoyed. She reached a recently manicured finger over and turned down the radio. The voices were barely audible.

"How much longer?" She repeated. The light from the setting sun glimmered off each strand of her own red hair giving her a fiery halo.

"What, you didn't enjoy our vacay Nami?" Kairi was the poster girl for Valley girls. Naminé probably thought

"Why can't I be more like Kairi?"

I'll tell you why she tnought that, because Naminé is the embodiment of envy. The Keeler girl had everything she desired in life. Money, killer curves, pools of followers, smarts, but most envious of all, a family. One mom, one dad, and a baby brother. Picture perfect. Something Naminé never had.

So why would Kairi hang out with someone like Naminé then? Simple. She could fool anyone. She hid her envy so perfectly. Naminé was always kind to her, gave her advice, you know, things girls do. I can imagine them having tons of sleepovers together, fighting over which Leonardo DiCaprio movie to watch. Kairi would have chose Romeo and Juliet because of the hopeless romantic in her. Naminé would have chose something more difficult to decipher, like Inception.

Basically, everything Kairi did Naminé was not far behind following along. But Kairi wasn't the sweetest girl on the planet. She'd convinced Naminé to do many things. Drugs being one of them. She never forced her. She always gave her a choice. Not like it made things better. It hadn't mattered anyway, Naminé would always instantly agree to anything. Kairi was the sister she never had and she would do anything to keep her. But I guess that's what you do when you're a rich kid. You already have everything so you figure, let's try something new.

"Cocaine was our favorite," I could hear her saying. Her voice is still disgustingly clear in my head. "I remember this one time when we were so high," she continued,"we got a tattoo from some parlour down the street." I knew the one she was talking about. She lifted her shirt slightly to show me. The tattoo on her hip was a small heart with a lone letter in it.

"N."

"Naminé?" Kairi calls her back to Earth, snapping her out of her own thoughts. I can hear her using the same tone when she used to call me back from my own daydreams.

"It was awesome!" Naminé replied enthusiastically. "I just wanted to know how close we were, you know, before the fun was over." She sealed the statement with a wink. End of conversation. Kairi smiles and nods, convincing herself because I know she didn't buy it.

"'Kay, well don't be so down we still have awhile together." That's about the time the collision occurs. It's not one of those cliché "swerve to avoid the animal in the road" types either. It's a nasty, brutal crash. Two other teens who happened to be on the same road that night. Drunk and driving.

I see the other vehicle, the pick-up, slam into the convertible head on after swerving out of its own lane. It all happens in a drunken stupor for the guys in the pick-up. Slow motion, an adrenaline high. The two girls, not so much. Kairi doesn't react fast enough and then everything is happening extremely fast. The car careens off the road and flips over, and over, and over. The boys get down from the truck slowly. Only the front end of it is smashed in. They begin to come to their senses and realize

"Hey are you guys all right?" No response from the mutilated vehicle.

"Holy shit, dude! S-something's wrong!" Idiot number one yells out.

"Come on Demyx, let's go!" the other yells. I see Demyx standing stock still. The color drains from his face in realization.

"Oh my God! They could be dead!" Demyx yells. Now he gets the intensity of the situation. I imagine him wetting his pants at about that point.

"Well then there's nothing we can do, come on!" Idiot number two grabs Demyx's arm and starts to drag him away.

"Oh God!" Demyx clutches his head. At least he shows some kind of remorse.

"I said let's go!" Ouch. Heartless much? No, just an underaged intoxicated boy thinking about the consequences of all this. Bye-bye Harvard after this incident. No, heartless kid refuses to accept that thought. He pushes Demyx along roughly, moving him towards the woods on the other side of the road. All he's thinking is he doesn't want to go to jail, I know that for sure. He was a good kid, smart, just made some bad decisions. Like now.

Too bad he wasn't smart enough to know the cops could track him down with the license plate of the truck. And their prints are all over it. That's a hit and run, man slaughter... Felonies on their record.

They were only seventeen.

Meanwhile, the girls are thanking God for On-Star because they can't respond to what just happened. The cops and paramedics take forever to arrive, twenty minutes really but forever.

The twenty minutes spent upside down in that car seem like ages. The glass is everywhere and Kairi thinks, 'there's so much blood.' She hears voices outside but they sound so familiar she probably thinks she's hallucinating. When the On-Star chick comes on, Kairi tries to reply but her throat is too dry.

"Ma'm, we just recieved an alert saying you were in an accident, are you okay?" 'Am I okay?' Maybe it's a good thing she can't speak. She ignores On-Star lady and I know the first thing she does is to try and see if Naminé is okay. Pain. Lots of it. She stops trying immediately. She tries to move her hands but they're stuck between the airbag. All she can do os wait. Torture, twenty minutes of nothing but.

"We're sending units to the scene right away ma'm." On-Star lady clicks off. Silence.

During this time, idiots one and two are running as fast as they can. They're pushing themselves to make it through the woods now.

"Zexion we killed them!" Demyx yells as he continues running.

"Shut up Demyx!" Zexion yells, breathless. They're clearly sober by this point. I can see Zexion thinking furiously while Demyx shakes violently. They come to the end of the woods and Zexion sees a gas station across the way. He grabs Demyx by the collar and shakes him violently.

"Demyx, don't you dare say a word, okay? Act normal, and don't attract attention to us when we get to that gas station alright?" Demyx nods obediently like the puppy dog he is. When they cross the street, Zexion walks up to the first payphone he sees. It's a collect call, they blew all their money on beer.

Zexion manages to keep cool and calmly dials the only number he knows when he's in a bind. He listens to the phone ring three times before the guy on the other end answers and he says

"Hey Axel, can you pick me and Demyx up?" Demyx is awed at the collected way he does all this. No tremor or a single stutter in his voice. 'He's talking like everything is just fine, like it's any other day we ask for a ride,' he probably thinks. He lays his head against the cold metal shield of the payphone. Zexion's voice comes out warped in his ears. A strange foriegn sound to him. What language is Zexion speaking? Before he is given time to ponder this thought, Zexion is off the phone and speaking to him.

"... pick us up."

"What?" Zexion sighs.

"Axel's gonna' pick us up."

All Kairi can think is how loud the ambulance's sirens are outside. She lays on the stretcher, hands at her sides, looking up at the light on the roof. A sharp pain runs through her skull. She can't remember how she got out of there. I can't imagine how much pain she is in until she passes out, her last thought,

'Is Naminé all right?'

Now this is where the story gets fuzzy. The two girls are rushed to the nearest hospital where they are immediately taken to the IC unit. Doctors and nurses alike run about, rushing to save the girls' lives. An on scene paramedic describes the situation to the doctor in charge, Doctor Lee, and gets to work.

Demyx opens the door to Axel's car first. He lifts climbs into the back seat and gives him a silent greeting. Zexion piles in next to him. The gas station owner watches the boys silentlyfrom his place in the store. He must've known we weren't good news. He was right.

It's a thirty minute drive from the station to the boys' neighborhood. I stay silent the beginning of the way but soon, my curiosity gets the best of me and I exhale deeply before asking,

"Alright, Zexion, what happened and where's your truck?" Demyx keeps quiet, continuing to play the silent game. Zexion laughs, an empty laugh I notice. I shift my eyes to glance at Demyx's expression. He's as pale as the moon and his face is thoughtful. He fidgets in his seat. He pulls the hood of his jacket up to hide his face. I know what that move means. He uses it everytime he's trying not to give something away. Like the time he tried to hide my surprise party from me. He gave that away easily. The hood was his tell. I looked straight ahead at the road.

"What happened?" I asked again.

"Chill dude," Zexion finally responded, "we ran out of gas so I left the truck on the side of the road and we walked to this gas station. I called a wrecker to tow it then I called you to pick us up." I didn't buy it, not one bit.

"So why didn't you just buy the gas and take it there?"

"You need something to carry it in, I didn't have anything," he shrugged. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It reeked.

Obviously lying is Zexion's forte. Believable story, but not true. How could I question it? I didn't feel like stirring anything up, so I fell back. The tension in the air slowly died and soon Demyx relaxed noticeably. The rest of the ride was silent.

The next fuzzy part is what I like to call the fake trade.

Naminé Turner and Kairi Keeler were both admitted to ICU after the head on collision with a pick up on May 21, 2011. After the doctors did all they could, they were left to recover in the rooms. An alarm sounded soon after signaling a flat line in the girls' shared room.

Naminé Turner was pronounced dead the same day a few hours later. No one was there to verify the body though. The girl was an orphan and they couldn't reach anyone at the place she used to live. She had no insurance and no close relatives. The closest they could find were the parents of the other girl, Kairi. Upon their arrival, they immediately verified the body as that of Naminé Turner. It was the day before her eighteenth birthday.

Kairi, the girl that was driving, stayed in ICU for a week more before she could be moved into a normal room where she fully recovered three days later. Kairi's parents must have been in some really strong denial. Maybe they were just happy that they're daughter was alive. Something was wrong. Her parents should have known. I should have known.

Either way, Kairi showed no sign of mourning after realizing she'd lost her best friend. I know she thought

'It's better this way.'

The girl fingered the hospital bracelet around her wrist. She read aloud,

"Kairi Keeler; Admitted 5/21/11..."

"Yes honey, that's you," her mother said with tear filled eyes, trying to convince herself perhaps.

"I know, I'm so lucky." Her bright blue eyes glittered thoughtfully. "Can we hold the burial for her, for Naminé?" She asked. The name sounded funny on her own lips. Mr. and Mrs. Keeler agreed right away without hesitation. Anything for the daughter they almost lost. She smiled. "I think burying her will help me cope well." Double meanings are a killer. Really. "I know the orphanage won't mind if we take the expenses off their hands." And she couldn't help but wonder, 'What if that'd been me?'

Kairi smiled gingerly. What if that'd been her?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

A/N: My first multi-chaptered Kingdom Hearts story and it's kind of crazy. I was in the mood for a little horror. Please review, all reviews are welcome including anonymous.

NobodyheartXIII


	2. Chapter 2

Behind every good marriage, there are secrets no one knows. We only see the show they put on outside home. When the curtain falls, no one really knows what's going on. This was the case with the Keeler's.

They gave way to nothing of course. Playing the part of happy wife an content husband was easy. Apparently the family has a knack for pretending. In any case, nothing was the same behind closed doors.

In the real world, outside, Mrs. Beatrice Keeler was the happy housewife. Caring for the house was her greatest joy. She always had great recipes to share with her friends and she had a book club that met every Thursday. She looked great for a woman in her thirties and didn't even need to thank the poison called Botox for it. Her husband, Edward, played the role of bread bringer. Always cheerful, never had a sip more of wine then he should, and a lovely family for which he was thankful. His trophy wife whom he had never raised a hand to, and an intelligent daughter whose focus stayed on her studies, at least to his knowledge. Through everyone else's eyes, the Keeler family was absolutely perfect. The marriage would last well past a normal couples' surely. But, as I said, that was just the show before the curtain closed.

XxThe DaughterxX

Kairi tented her fingers and rested her chin on top of them. Her eyes were watery from her somber contemplation.

If you wanted an inside guide to her thoughts, to her mind, I couldn't give (and still can't) give you one. I can't tell you what she was thinking about the death or the life.

Unlike her father, Kairi did not stop drinking after she'd had too many sips. She stared at her reflection in a wine glass sitting across from her on the table. Soon, it became a blur of colors. She picked it up then held it to her cheek. Her finger tapped her bottom lip in more silent contemplation. A silent battle was waging in her eyes and mind.

"Hmph," the corners of her mouth lift upward, "ha ha ha," her laughter comes out harsh and biting. A foreign sound even to her own ears. It makes her slightly uneasy. She takes a sip of the red wine in her glass and stares straight out the window. A brand new convertible sits parked in the driveway. You or I might have just been grateful. I know I would have, a glossy new convertible in my driveway? Sign me up. No, not for Kairi.

It was the exact make, model, and color. A bright red reminder, taunting. Her lips twist into a sour smile. She raises her glass in an invisible toast, takes a swig, then stands up and throws the glass at the wall. It shatters instantly. Silent screams sound off in her head. They almost sound like- but she pushes the thought away.

Kairi watches as the shards and liquid ran down. A captivating, beautiful display in her mind. She watches it so intensely she swears she can see her reflection in the rain of wine and shattered glass. She can't seem to look away as everything seems to fall in slow motion. Suddenly, something inside her snaps. She can feel it, hear it. She clamps her hand over her mouth and sobs. Her eyes widen as she sees the carpet begin to stain red. A bloody mess through her eyes. Kairi's body is wracked with shivers. She walks over to the broken glass then drops to her knees in the middle of it.

A pale shaky hand reaches out to pick up the shards. Small lacerations form on her palm and fingers as she grips the shard.

"I'm- I'm so s-sorry, K-," as if she's seen a ghost, she backs up to her bedroom door. Her knees retract into her chest and her palms wipe themselves on her jeans. "No," she whimpers. Kairi closes her eyes. A shaky breath escapes her lips. The whole room is silent. Her sanity is becoming harder to grasp. The fine line that separates reality and insanity is blurred. She focuses on the ticking of the clock. Sunlight streams through the window onto her face. After a seemingly long moment of sitting and listening, Kairi stands then walks around the broken glass to her bathroom. When she reaches the door, she takes one last glance behind her. The stain sets.

Steam fills the bathroom quick enough as Kairi discards her clothes. The water falls over her small frame, burning yet soothing. Her eyelids slide closed. She runs a hand through her hair then stops. She drops her arm to face level and narrows her eyes at the medical band still around her wrist. "I am K- Kairi Keeler, I'm eighteen years old..." Her mantra is cut off by a startling knock at the door.

"Is everything okay in there Kairi, dear?" came her mother's muffled voice.

"Everything is fine, mom. I- I just dropped my glass, that's all," Kairi responded shakily. Was that her voice? Had she really formed those words?

"Okay, uh, just... making sure."

When Kairi gets out, she immediately heads over to look in the mirror above her sink. It's still covered with steam, she can't see her reflection. She breathes a sigh of relief. For who could actually tell what lies beyond the murky depths of one's mirror. She traces the falling water droplets with her fingertips. Her hand jerks back slightly and she shakes her head.

Xx The Parents xX

Beatrice and Edward liked to think they knew what their daughter's life was like. They liked to think they knew who she really was. Kairi Keeler had no secrets. They were foolish. As her parents, they should have known her better than any of us ever could. They should have known what their daughter was really like, what she was capable of. But "should haves" will do less than nothing now.

A part of me liked to think they knew, and in the end, they did, but refused to accept it. Because of this convenient unknowing they feel they weren't to blame.

_I__blame__them__the__most._

Beatrice walks down the stairs in a haze. She crosses over to the table where her husband is sitting in the dining room. Hesitantly, she speaks, "Dear, you can't tell me you haven't noticed a change in Kairi." Her husband pauses typing to think. He removes his glasses and begins to rub his temples. Beatrice leans over and closes his laptop.

"Beatrice, I've told you time and time again-" She interrupts him.

"Edward stop. Listen to me, it's not that. She was just fine before the- the accident. I think maybe she needs to talk to someone-" It was her husband's turn to interrupt.

"What, you mean like a psychiatrist? Come now Beatrice, you can't be serious." He sighs like a man who has been handed misfortune after misfortune.

"Oh but I am," she says solemnly, quietly,"Just now I went to check on her and she said she'd broken her glass!" Her husband walked over to the sink and filled a cup with water from the tap.

"It happens Beatrice!" He was becoming irritated.

"It was still half full on the table," her voice was very quiet, her husband had to strain his ears to hear it. But he heard every word, and every ounce of disbelief. He turned to look at his wife questioningly.

"...And you still think it has nothing to do with her condition?"

"I think it has to do with the damned accident!" she said firmly.

Xx The "Daughter" xX

Kairi sank into her chair, eyeing her glass warily. Like it was a dog growling at her rather than an inanimate object filled with liquid. Maybe her mom had picked up the mess and poured her a new glass. What about the stain? It wasn't set deep enough, still easy to clean. Sure, yeah, that was it. Kairi nodded her head slowly, reassuring herself. You and I both know that's not what happened.

Her glass was never broken. You and I both know that was a hallucination. Keep up. It wasn't real. Kairi, well, I found she can't tell the two apart. Tell hallucinations from reality. The line between insanity and reality had finally shattered. Or had it always been that way? Think about it. I'm sure it started well before the accident.

You could stop now and think I'm just making assumptions. You can believe as much as you want that I'm the one who's lost his mind and Kairi is completely fine. Is that what you're thinking? Go ahead, I wouldn't blame you. Why trust me, who am I that you should believe everything I've written so far? Why do I have such an interest in the Keeler case? Well because I know it ran much deeper than just what appeared to be wrong on the surface. 'Cause I was her best friend.

When I'd met her in fifth grade, we became fast friends. You wouldn't hear the name Kairi without Axel followed by it or vice versa. She was always very popular, very pretty. Never would I have guessed there was something dark hidden inside her. Scratching to come out, yelling to be let out. Maybe I just didn't want to see it. Just like her parents. We all wanted to claim we knew nothing. I was her best friend, I should have known but maybe she just hid it real well.

Around seventh grade was when I started to notice she was acting strange. But she was a girl, and even if I was her best friend I couldn't possibly understand all of her right? Girls are just hard to figure out by nature. Those were the type of things I would tell myself. I've realized now, looking back, the damage that was done. But I didn't notice soon enough.

Kairi started to distance herself from me, from everyone. Some days she was her normal outgoing self. But then there were the few days when she acted like a completely different person. Quiet, reserved, almost the exact opposite of her usual self. She used to tell me everything, but I hadn't heard about Naminé until two weeks prior to the accident. The fact that I heard was another accident.

You'd think your best friend would introduce you to her new one. Kairi hadn't talked about her at all. She kept her well hidden.

XxXxXxXxX

A/N: Chapter 2! Sorry it took so long, I haven't had a chance to type it up. It was going to be longer but I didn't want to make it to lengthy, otherwise I think it would have been boring. The boys will be in the next chapter though. Thanks for reading! All reviews are welcome.


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